FBI Director Kash Patel could be the next senior official to leave the Trump administration, according to a White House source cited in a new report by Politico. The document points to growing internal frustrations within the federal agency.Politico’s Dash Burns reported that pressure is building over Patel’s position, with an unnamed official suggesting that his time in office may be limited. Burns wrote onThe same source said concerns within the administration also included negative coverage of Patel, which they described as damaging to a senior official’s image.Burns said: “There are a number of reasons, the official said, but top of them are the number of negative stories focused on Patel, ‘not a good look for a Cabinet secretary,’ and Trump being fed up with the level of distraction.”The White House has not publicly confirmed any moves involving Patel.This report comes at a time when Patel is already facing legal and media scrutiny. He has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic after a story by journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick. The article alleged that Patel consumed alcohol excessively and harassed his colleagues in the office, and that he often missed important meetings. In one case, Patel struggled to access his FBI computer system and mistakenly believed he had been fired by President Donald Trump.The Atlantic has rejected the claims, stating: “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this frivolous lawsuit.”Separate reporting by The Intercept has also drawn attention to Patel’s past, citing a 2005 disclosure letter submitted to the Florida Bar. The filing cites two prior arrests, one for public intoxication when he was an underage college student, and the other for public urination when he was studying law in New York.In the letter, Patel said the college incident occurred after he was removed from a basketball game and later arrested by the police. The second incident occurred during a night out with friends and ended in what he described as a “gross deviation from proper conduct”, resulting in a fine for urinating in public.He said: “We went to some local bars and consumed some alcoholic beverages. At the end of the night, we decided to walk home. In a major deviation from proper conduct, we attempted to relieve our bladders while walking home.”The revelations come as a fresh investigation is being conducted into Patel’s conduct in office. Earlier this year, he was filmed drinking beer with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team after their gold medal win in Milan, an event he defended as an expression of national pride.
